Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star reveals her secret pitch to Tim Burton before they started making the sequel: "I know it's twisted"

News
By published

Could it be wedding bells yet again in the sequel?

Winona Ryder as Lydia and Justin Theroux as Rory in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star Winona Ryder has revealed she had the wildest idea for the upcoming sequel, and it is something she has been hoping for ever since the original movie came out almost 40 years ago. 

"I always wanted Lydia to end up with Beetlejuice. I know that sounds twisted but that was my big pitch always to Tim," said Ryder in an interview with Happy Sad Confused Podcast.  "I just have this like love, I don't know if it's just because I love the movie and I love Michael [Keaton] and I love Tim [Burton], but I have this dream that they will end up together as this bickering kind of George and Martha couple."

In the original movie, Ryder plays teenager Lydia who, with her parents, moves into a haunted house and soon comes face to face with Keaton’s Ghost with the Most, who, for some reason, tries to marry her. The star later highlighted that she knows it would have been "weird" for the two to get together in the original movie as back in 1988 she and her character Lydia were only 15. But now she is in her fifties, she thinks it is appropriate the two finally "end up together".

In fact, this was something the Stranger Things star had been pushing for even before the sequel was announced, as she recalled her conversations with director Tim Burton. "I know it sounds really twisted but I do remember in all of our talks, they were always like at night and Tim would always pace with his notebook and that was always like the thing I was like but what if."

The movie also stars Poor Things’ Willem Dafoe, Mulholland Drive’s Justin Theroux, and The Matrix’s Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s wife - we hope that doesn't spoil things for Ryder’s dream romance with the ghoul. 

Megan Garside
Junior Social Media Editor, GamesRadar+

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.